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 Prof. (Dr.) Balraj Singh joined SKN Agriculture University on 11/03/2019. Before appointment as Vice Chancellor, Agriculture University, Jodhpur & Jobner, Dr. Balraj Singh was also appointed as Horticulture Commissioner by Government of India. Before joining as V.C., A.U., Jodhpur, he was working as Director of ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer for the past three & half years and he is also holding the honorary position of the President of the Indian Society of Seed Spices. He is doctorate in Vegetable Science and well known scientist in the field of vegetable crops and protected cultivation in the country. During his 29 years of professional career, he has acquired valuable experience in research, teaching, HRD and extension in field of vegetable crops and protected cultivation of horticultural crops.
In the initial ten years period of his career, Dr. Balraj Singh has worked in the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Vegetables and developed several vegetable and vegetable seed production technologies. He has gone through international training on “Leadership and Decision making” at world’s most prestigious management institute, Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, Cambridge USA in November, 2013. He also got training on ‘‘Horticultural crop production under climatic constraints” at Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel in the year 2000. He was the member of the pioneer team that implemented Protected Cultivation Technology in India under the Indo-Israel collaborative project established in the year 1999. Later the project took shape of the Centre for Protected Cultivation Technology (C.P.C.T), I.A.R.I., New Delhi where he worked for more than 13 years and also headed the same for more than 4 years.
Dr. Balraj Singh has standardized numerous low cost and energy efficient protected cultivation technologies suitable for different agro-climatic conditions for Indian farmers to bring up vegetable production at new heights. During 2001-02, he was the member of a team of technical experts from Dept. of Agriculture Research and Education, Govt. of India for making a plan of horticulture development for the state of Mizoram. He has vast research experience on hi-tech horticulture by handling many in-house, externally funded and inter-institutional projects. He was also Consortia Principal Investigator of N.A.I.P. project of around 1.0 million USD funded by World Bank on “Protected Cultivation of High Quality Vegetables and Cut Flowers: A Value Chain Approach”.
As a resource person, he has been member of various Working Groups formed by few Indian States for implementation of Protected Cultivation and Hi-Tech Vegetable Farming. Dr. Balraj Singh’s contributions are well recognized both at international and national forums through various awards and recognitions. He is the founder Secretary of the Indian Society for Protected Cultivation and he was also the Vice President of Indian Society of Seed Technology. He is Fellow member of Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Technology; Indian Society of Seed Technology; Horticulture Society of India, Indian Society of Seed Spices.
Dr. Balraj Singh has guided several post graduate and Ph. D. students at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa-New Delhi and he has also published more than 145 research papers in national and international referred journals of repute and more than 35 book chapters published nationally and internationally. He has also written more than 130 technical and popular articles to disseminate the developed technologies among farmers and stakeholders. He is the author of the first Indian text book on ‘Protected Cultivation of Vegetables Crops’ and also authored edited book on “Advances on Protected Cultivation” which has been forwarded by the Hon’ble Ex-President of India Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He has conducted more than 50 national and international training programmes for scientist, professionals and farmers on various aspects like Hi-tech nursery raising in vegetables, advances in protected cultivation of vegetables, plant protection of horticultural crops under protected conditions, seed production in vegetables etc. To his credit there are eight varieties of different vegetable and seed spice crops identified/released at state & national level and he has also standardized several vegetable crop production & seed production technologies under protected and open field conditions.
Under the leadership of Dr. Balraj Singh, I.C.A.R.-N.R.C. on Seed Spices, Ajmer has achieved new heights in R&D and got I.S.O. 9001:2008 accreditation for providing laboratory analysis, seed spices research and development and consultancy, training and transfer of technology to stake holders.
During his tenure (2012-2016) as Director, National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer, the Institute has made its valuable presence in the State of Rajasthan and also across the country as a research centre dedicated towards the benefit of seed spice growers.
Dr. Balraj Singh is the person with a scientific attitude and wants to bring out the best in Indian agriculture and horticulture research and development by dedicated and sincere efforts placed in a systematic and disciplined manner. N.R.C.S.S. was awarded with best research institute by Zee News Rajasthan during January 2016 under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Balraj Singh as Director. Dr. Balraj Singh has been awarded with the Dr. Kirti Singh Gold Medal for the year 2015 by Horticulture Society of India for his outstanding contributions in the field of horticulture (Vegetable Science).
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